How To Cari Makan With RM50 A Week

Anyone can save a little money on weekly groceries, but doing so without resulting to cream crackers for dinner can be a challenge - or is it? Read on to find out how you can stop overspending at the supermarket!

Buying groceries that can last for a week could cost you RM100s – a bottle of this, and a packet of that can rack up quite a sum at the checkout counter. For a person living in and around the Klang Valley earning a minimum wage of RM900 to RM1200 per month, RM50 per week is not a meagre sum. With the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax ( GST) next year, not only will minimum income earners feel the pinch but those from every income group will also have a harder time budgeting to make ends meet.

Cutting down on food expenditure is more than necessary to survive living in the big city. Hence, the important question here is, is it possible to buy groceries with RM50 (or less) per week?

This may sound like a radical idea, but definitely not impossible. To arrive at an answer, I've went through (thankfully, survived it too!) one week of living with nothing more but RM50 in my pocket to fulfill my most fundamental need - to put some yummy in my tummy!

My Supermarket Experience

Embrace Supermarket Sales Flyers

I started the week by going grocery shopping at the nearest supermarket. Immediately I noticed that the supermarket's sales flyer was available for free at the entrance.

Looking over all the sales and clearance items, I thought to myself, “Instead of thinking about what I'm in the mood for, I should instead think about the delicious and healthy meals I can cook up with what's on sale for the week!"

Alternatively, you can visit their website to check out ongoing sales and promotions.– always think about the well-being of your wallet, and of your own.

Choose Home Brand Items

Buying the store's home brand is also a good strategy for extra sayings - why spend on expensive imported cereal or dish detergent when the cheaper generic home brand is just as good?

At the end of the day, after careful consideration, my basket consisted of :-

Items

Price(RM)

200g of oatmeal

3.99

Loaf of bread

4.90

Packet of rice

7.90

Packed chicken breast

6.55

Kang-kung

1.50

1 carton of eggs

4.29

500g red onions

4.99

250g garlic

4.99

Soya sauce

4.95

750g salt

3.40

Packet of red apples

10

TOTAL

48.46

That's justs below RM50, with a good mix of branded and generic products, along with fresh poultry and leafy greens.

I can have bread and apples for breakfast, oatmeal to keep pangs of hunger at bay throughout the day, and dinner consisting of stir-fried chicken, boiled eggs, kang-kung, and steamed rice. - miraculously, I managed to still have some leftovers after that week!

Plan Your Meals Beforehand

To avoid overspending on unnecessary items that will only stuff up your fridge, it is also important to plan your meals ahead of time before shopping.

And a meal plan was exactly what I came up with – you thought I picked all these items at random? Oh please! It is easy to get into the habit. If you think a pen and paper is too old-fashioned, you can use mobile apps such as Out of Milk and Evernote Food to keep grocery lists, recipes, and keep track of your spending.

Pay on Credit

If you've got access to credit, and are confident that you can make your full monthly payments promptly, go ahead and pay for your groceries with a credit card.

Some credit cards offer higher cashback specifically for groceries, or purchases on the weekend - a perfect match if you're one to make it a ritual to go grocery shopping on days off!

Finally, there are also co-brand credit cards that offer exclusive cash rebates and reward points whenever you spend at certain big name outlets such as the New AEON Visa Classic, or the Tesco- RHB Visa.

I'm Not Alone!

As I've discovered, I wasn't alone in my quest for a more frugal lifestyle. In fact, there is an ongoing thread on Reddit where quite a handful of young working Malaysians offer their own solutions on saving on grocery expenses. Some of the responses include :-

“I survived on rice, kangkong, eggs, scallions, garlic, salt, chilli and ikan bilis powder for quite some time. Well below RM50 per week. All from Tesco which was within a walking distance from my place. The lowest point of my life.” ~ niggamajingga

“For leafy vegetables, I will go to TLC supermarket. They have more produce and clearance section. You can also buy a can of beans for less then RM3. Look out for deals in the clearance corner. Also if you go to AEON supermarket near closing time, some meat and fish produce are discounted up to 50%.” ~ maximus7

While these responses can be quite humourous, they are also very insightful and goes to show that it is possible to live on RM50 a week, without resorting to a Maggi dinner every night. The main takeaway for my experience is that you must commit to the idea of grocery budgeting - that is the most important. If you are stubborn and want nothing to change, then you’ll get exactly what you wish for.

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For housewives, I think it is a better idea to do grocery at wet markets. There you can get more fresh vegetables and poultry too. Most importantly, your RM 50 can get you more than what you got from supermarket. You just have to wake up a little bit earlier, then you can live healthily and within your means.

When the sun goes down supermarkets often decrease their prices to half if not more of the original cost. You're guaranteed to find some good bargains that you can either eat quickly or freeze to extend its shelf life.

Be aware for those 50% clearance sale for meat and fish in hypermarket! Usually they are not fresh and even closed to rotten! I understand that everyone is struggle in saving money but bear in mind health is more important! I personally suggest to buy chicken and fish at wet market.

Eating canned food and rotten food like ikan bilis might seem cheap now but in the long-term might pose great health and financial costs. Better to eat fresh food as far as possible and adopt a healthy lifestyle, reducing exposure to carcinogens. Don't take your health for granted.

I certainly agree on both to source food from wet markets and supermarkets. I shop mainly at wet markets for poultry and fresh vegetables. However, sometimes supermarkets do offer fresh food on special discounts and the groceries items are cheaper especially their in-house brand. Eating maggi is definitely not a long-term solution and eating healthy food doesn't necessarily mean organic or imported, which is expensive. A balanced diet is good enough.

Tesco has great sales on fresh vegetables. You don't need nasty unhealthy Maggie sup with msg and preservatives. Make fresh soup in a large pot and take portions with each meal. You could blend the vegetables and add garlic, onion, other seasonings that you like very easily. Using cheap spaghetti noodles or whatever is on sale works,nicely or simply add in your leftover rice.
Pumpkin (labu) is usually less than 3rm per piece. Steam it and remove the outside shell after. Add butter, sugar and cinnamon and you'll have a cheap and amazing,vitamin packed side with your meal or you can refrigerate it and have it as a healthy dessert. (Even without,butter it's still very,yummy.)
cheap and healthy,drinks are possible,too using,discounted,fruits or just making lime,juice. If sugar free, buy a 1rm lemon and add it to plain water for a mildly,sour and healthy drink that detoxifies. Don't throw away the lemon, keep reusing it throughout the day in each,new container onward.

Just thoughts from a healthcare student...
Bread is high GI, fast releasing sugar, he'll get more hungry after eating bread.
Oat on the other hand, gets you stuff, 4 tablespoon of oat + milk, low GI, high satiety. Keeps you full longer, thus don't need to eat as much.
The above is definitely do-able.

I think we are tempted to spend more when we can afford to spend more.
When there's a budget, we'll try to make do with what we have.

This person wrote this article from year 2001 is it.....eat like that sure become really thin. But i accept your challenge, i will try this for a month...if its impossible, i will come back and debunk this article with my P3n15 hammer

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